<<Question for Pixy. Can Mrs Pixy retire early before you and get a retirement based on your wages? Suppose you are both the same age, but she wants to retire at 63 and you want to retire at 65. Will her retirement be based on her wages until you retire and be recalculated when you retire? Or will they be based on her wages period? Or will they look at your wages at that time and calculate the monthly check?>>

If she has no work record of her own, then she cannot draw a benefit until I do. If she has a work record, then she will draw on that until I retire. When I retire, if a spousal benefit based on my work record is higher than what she draws as a reduced benefit on her own record, she will receive that higher payment. She still draws on her work record, but an additional amount can be drawn on mine to increase her to the level she is eligible on mine alone. However, her final benefit will not be based on 50% of what I receive because she retired early. It will be a reduced spousal benefit based on her early retirement. If her own reduced benefit is higher, then she would continue to draw on her own work record alone.